The fans have decided: driver pairings for opening round at Stars & Cars

The fans have decided: driver pairings for opening round at Stars & Cars

Fan voting is now closed: the eight head-to-head battles for the opening round of Stars & Cars 2015 in the Mercedes-Benz Arena have been chosen

Fans voted on the head-to-head heats for the first round of competition: mercedes.me/starsandcars

Three-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton will go up against two-time World Champion Mika Häkkinen

Formula 1 star Nico Rosberg will go head-to-head with Mick Schumacher in the first round

Stars & Cars 2015 will take place on Saturday, 12 December in the Mercedes-Benz Arena Stuttgart. Live broadcasts on SPORT1 and via the live-stream at mercedes.me/starsandcars

The head-to-head heats for the opening round of Stars & Cars 2015 have been announced. At mercedes.me/starsandcars, fans were able to pick their favourite drivers to go head-to-head in the first round at the Mercedes-Benz Arena Stuttgart. Visitors to the site could select their favourite competitor for the eight seeded drivers: Lewis Hamilton, Christian Vietoris, Paul Di Resta, Pascal Wehrlein, Daniel Juncadella, Gary Paffett, Robert Wickens and Nico Rosberg.

Result of fan voting: head-to-heads in the opening round

Race 1: Lewis Hamilton - Mika Häkkinen (33%)

Race 2: Christian Vietoris - Maximilian Götz (22%)

Race 3: Paul Di Resta - David Coulthard (19%)

Race 4: Pascal Wehrlein - Jean Alesi (15%)

Race 5: Daniel Juncadella - Lucas Auer (20%)

Race 6: Gary Paffett - Bernd Schneider (18%)

Race 7: Robert Wickens - Bernd Mayländer (19%)

Race 8: Nico Rosberg - Mick Schumacher (28%)

For the first time, Stars & Cars is being held in the Mercedes-Benz Arena Stuttgart. The main competition consists of four rounds, ranging from the opening round of sixteen to the final. Competitors will compete against each other in identical cars in every race. The winner of each heat goes through to the next round. Each of the four rounds will be contested using different classes of vehicles.

The four different cars are: The Mercedes-AMG A45 4MATIC (round of sixteen), the Mercedes-AMG C 63 S (quarter-finals), the Mercedes-AMG GT S (semi-finals) and the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 (finale). There will also be five special races, featuring current and historic racing cars that represent Mercedes-Benz peerless motor racing heritage, which will ensure plenty of excitement and drama on the track – and of course, all the 2015 championship-winning cars, from the Mercedes F1 W06 Hybrid to the Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM, will be in action.